Customer-operated ordering system and method that accepts coupons with interactive multimedia content

Abstract

A customer-operated ordering system may allow a customer to select and consummate a sale himself. The system may include a first input device including a coupon reception device configured to allow the customer to provide a coupon that provides the customer with an incentive to purchase one or more products or services. The processing system may be configured to deliver selected multimedia to the output device relating to products or services that the customer may purchase in an interactive manner, based at least in part on the coupon provided to the coupon reception device and based at least in part on other input received from the customer.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A customer-operated ordering system that allows a customer to select and consummate a sale himself comprising: 
 a first input device including a coupon reception device configured to receive a coupon from the customer that provides the customer with an incentive to purchase one or more products or services;    a second input device configured to receive other input from the customer;    an output device configured to provide output to the customer;    multimedia storage media configured to store multimedia relating to products or services that the customer may purchase on the customer-operated ordering system; and    a processing system configured to: 
 communicate with the first input device, the second input device, the output device and the multimedia storage media;  
 deliver selected multimedia to the output device relating to products or services that the customer may purchase on the customer-operated ordering system in an interactive manner based at least in part on the coupon received by the coupon reception device and based at least in part on other input received from the customer on the second input device;  
 consummate a sale of a product or service with the customer based at least on portions of the output that is delivered to the output device and based at least on portions of the other input that is received from the customer on the second input device; and  
 determine, communicate and provide to the customer the incentive provided by the coupon received by the coupon reception device.  
   
     
     
         2 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is sponsored by the merchant on whose premises the customer operating system is operated.  
     
     
         3 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is sponsored by a person other than the merchant on whose premises the customer operating system is operated.  
     
     
         4 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon provides an incentive to purchase a specific product or service.  
     
     
         5 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 4  wherein the multimedia caused to be selected by the processing system relates to the specific product or service.  
     
     
         6 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 4  wherein the multimedia caused to be selected by the processing system relates to a product or service other than the specific product or service.  
     
     
         7 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon provides a discount, price reduction or credit.  
     
     
         8 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the multimedia caused to be selected by the processing system relates to a product or service sold by the merchant on whose premises the customer operating system is operated.  
     
     
         9 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein, the multimedia caused to be selected by the processing system relates to a product or service sold by a person other than the merchant on whose premises the customer operating system is operated.  
     
     
         10 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the selected multimedia that is caused to be delivered to the output by the processing system is based on a profile of the customer.  
     
     
         11 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 10  wherein the customer profile is stored in a customer profile storage media and wherein the processing system is configured to communicate with the customer profile storage media and to obtain the identity of the customer from the input device.  
     
     
         12 . The customer operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the products and services are not dispensed by the customer-operated ordering system.  
     
     
         13 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is provided before the sale is consummated.  
     
     
         14 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is provided after the sale is consummated.  
     
     
         15 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is provided as part of the sale that is consummated.  
     
     
         16 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  further including incentive storage media configured to store incentive information and wherein the processing system is configured to communicate with the incentive storage media and to determine the incentive based on incentive information in the incentive storage media.  
     
     
         17 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is in human-readable format and wherein the coupon reception device includes an optical coupon reader.  
     
     
         18 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon includes a code.  
     
     
         19 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is delivered to the coupon reception device in electronic format.  
     
     
         20 . The customer-operated ordering system of  claim 1  wherein the electronic format includes a code.  
     
     
         21 . A customer-operated ordering process that allows a customer to select and consummate a sale himself comprising: 
 delivering selected multimedia to an output device on a customer-operated ordering system that relates to products or services that the customer may purchase in an interactive manner, the selected multimedia being based at least in part on a coupon provided to a coupon reception device by the customer that provides the customer with an incentive to purchase one or more products or services and based at least in part on other input received from the customer on a second input device;    consummating a sale of a product or service with the customer on the customer-operated ordering system based at least on portions of the output that is delivered to the output device and at least on portions of other input that is received from the customer on the second input device; and    determining, communicating and providing to the customer an incentive provided by the coupon provided to the coupon reception device.    
     
     
         22 . A customer-operated ordering system comprising: 
 a first input device including a coupon reception device;    a second input device;    an output device;    multimedia storage media; and    a processing system configured to: 
 deliver selected multimedia to the output device relating to products or services that the customer may purchase on the customer-operated ordering system in an interactive manner based at least in part on the coupon provided to the coupon reception device and based at least in part on other input received from the customer on the second input device;  
 consummate a sale of a product or service with the customer based at least on portions of the output that is delivered to the output device and at least on portions of the other input that is received from the customer on the second input device; and  
 determine, communicate and provide to the customer the incentive provided by the coupon provided to the coupon reception device.  
   
     
     
         23 . A customer-operated ordering system including a processing system configured to: 
 deliver selected multimedia to an output device relating to products or services that a customer may purchase in an interactive manner based at least in part on a coupon that provides an incentive provided to a coupon reception device and based at least in part on other input received from the customer on a second input device;    consummate a sale of a product or service with the customer based at least on portions of the output that is delivered to an output device and at least on portions of other input that is received from the customer on the second input device; and    determine, communicate and provide to the customer the incentive provided by the coupon provided to the coupon reception device.    
     
     
         24 . A customer-operated ordering system that allows a customer to select and consummate a sale himself comprising: 
 a first input device including a card reader configured to allow the customer to insert a card that provides the customer with a stored value that may be applied to the purchase of one or more products or services;    a second input device configured to receive other input from the customer;    an output device configured to provide output to the customer;    multimedia storage media configured to store multimedia relating to products or services that the customer may purchase on the customer-operated ordering system; and    a processing system configured to: 
 communicate with the first input device, the second input device, the output device and the multimedia storage media;  
 deliver selected multimedia to the output device relating to products or services that the customer may purchase on the customer-operated ordering system in an interactive manner based at least in part on the card provided to the card reader and based at least in part on other input received from the customer on the second input device;  
 consummate a sale of a product or service with the customer based at least on portions of the output that is delivered to the output device and at least on portions of the other input that is received from the customer on the second input device; and  
 apply an amount on the card towards payment for the purchase.  
   
     
     
         25 . A customer-operated ordering process comprising: 
 reading a coupon that provides an incentive and that is provided by the customer to a coupon reception device;    delivering a multimedia presentation to the customer promoting the sale of at least one product or service in a manner that is interactive with the customer and that is based at least in part on the coupon that is provided;    providing the incentive to the customer; and    consummating a sale with the customer for at least one of the products or services.